1) Staffing
Margot Barry stood down from her position within AOTI. Ciara Coffey was employed from May 2014 in the role of AOTI CPD officer two days per week. Sarah Lee continues in the role of Director of
Professional Development 2.5 days per week.
2) AOTI Conference
National AOTI conference was held 9 th and 10 th May, 2014. Wexford.
CPD staff delivered two education sessions to support members to become confident using AOTI points system for CPD. AOTI stall in exhibition space was set up and staffed. This included many CPD resources.
3) CPD Events
The CPD office of AOTI organised a number of CPD events in the past year. a) HSE Funded Events
In March 2014 we had the opportunity to submit proposals for HSE funding for CPD events. CPD priorities were identified based on national survey responses, submissions of CPD events of interest from the Advisory Groups, interprofessional discussion re CPD needs and analysis of events rolled out previously and emerging topics of interest. HSE funding was granted for the following events specific to OTs;

Lifestyle Design (Held January 9 th , February 13 th and May 8 th , 2015. 30 OTs attended)

Complex Seating (Held 17 th, 18 th and 19 th November, 2014 in Seattech Enable Ireland, Dublin)
25 therapists attended. There was a high level of interest in seating but places were strictly allocated by criteria for HSE staff, currently involved in complex seating assessments, previous completion of Level 1 seating course.

Sensory Modulation and Mental Health (4 th and 5 th December, 2014, Cork. 8 th and 9 th
December, 2014. Dublin) facilitated by Tina Champagne. 65 OTs attended in total between
Dublin and Cork. There were over 160 applicants.

Insight (Held 7 th and 8 th October, 2014 in Dublin) facilitated by Kit Malia from Brain Tree
Training, 47 attended the two day workshop.

Executive Dysfunction (10 th and 11 th November, 2014 Dublin) facilitated by Austin Claffey,
Harrisons Training. Twenty therapists attended, double this number applied.

The Practice of Professional Supervision (Held 4 th and 5 th November with follow up 9 th and
10 th December 2014 in Dublin. The workshop was full with 15 OTs completing the training and a wait list established.)

AOTI also submitted interdisciplinary CPD proposals for CPD funding for events open to OTs and other professionals. The following interdisciplinary events were funded by the HSE and ran;

SOS Feeding with INDI and IASLT (June 23 rd , 24 th and 25 th , 2014. Dublin. AOTI was approved
HSE funds to subsidise 14 OTs to attend this three day workshop. There was very high interest in this workshop.)

FACETs with ISCP (19 th February, 2015 Dublin and 20 th February, 2015 Cork. This one day workshop outlines an approach to Fatigue Management in MS. There was again high interest in the workshop. A mix of 25 Physios and OTs attended both locations.)

CPD conference with INDI, IASLT, ISCP, IIRRT, IASW, ISCA, IIMMS (One day CPD conference held March 11 th , 2015)

Acceptance Commitment Therapy for Chronic Pain (ACTs) with ISCP. (Dublin 13 th September,
2014. Sligo 10 th October, 2014. Cork January)

Healthcare Economics. (Dublin. 2 nd October, 2014). Run in cooperation with ISCP and IASLT)
One day workshop for SLT, PT and OT managers held in Dublin.
Other events were delivered which were HSE funded and were rolled over with funds from the previous year. These included;

OT and Podiatry workshop on Rheumatology (6 th September, 2014)

OTs and the Law Medicolegal workshop (30 th April and 1 st May, 2014)

Peer Supervision workshop for OT and SLT managers with IASLT (19 th and 20 th May, Follow up day 10 th June, 2014, Final day January 13 th , 2015) b) Non HSE Funded CPD Events
AOTI also arranged CPD events in the past year which were not HSE funded. Members and nonmembers were charged to attend with significant discounts on registration fees for members.

Motivational Interviewing workshop Foundation Level. (26 th and 27 th September, 2014) Held in Dublin and facilitated by James O’Shea.

CONNECT one day workshop ‘Making communication access a reality’. (12 th November,
2014. Dublin. 13 th November, 2014. Cork). Delivered by Sarah Lee and Laura O’Brien (IASLT) to OTs, SLTs and some other HSCPs.

Hoist Prescription workshop. (24 th and 25 th November, 2014, Ballyhaunis and 2 nd and 3 rd
December, Dublin). Facilitated by Aideen Gallagher.
4) CPD Survey
A survey on CPD was opened to members and non-members from the end of October, 2014 to
November, 2014. Therapists were asked to detail their three CPD priorities for the coming 12

months. Responses from survey were analysed and this information was used to inform CPD planning for 2015 and beyond.
5) Planning for CPD 2015
Planning for events to run in 2015 and beyond commenced in 2014. This involved review of events which had been run, consideration of submissions by AGs and analysis of CPD survey responses.
With regard to HSE funding submissions, we reviewed and further improved our process for preparing these funding proposals. This included;

Meeting with Advisory Group(AG) chairs on 11 th July, 2014 to discuss requirements for HSE funding proposals

Improved communication with AGs

Request for CPD contact person for each AG

Meeting with HSE re CPD funding submissions September, 2014 to clarify conditions for proposals and required format, and discussions re deadline.

Agreement with HSE and other HSCPs on earlier deadline for submissions. Deadline for 2015 moved to February 13 th , 2015.
6) Website Developments
Review and development of CPD resources on the website has been ongoing.

A new CPD tab was created on www.aoti.ie

Consultation with CPD committee and CPD team re preferred content and layout for this part of website

Two educational modules were developed for members by the CPD committee and are now available under the CPD tab. One is on the Online Portfolio and the other on the AOTI CPD
Points system.

Development of an online CPD portfolio for members was a priority for 2014. The CPD office met with the web designers regarding our needs. The tool was created and tested by the
CPD team, CPD committee and edited. Following this it was piloted with a sample of AOTI members and further edits made. The portfolio was launched to members for their use on
8 th August, 2014. It is a tool which members can use to plan and record their CPD online. It assists members by calculating the number of points they have accrued in line with audit requirements annually.

Online Event Registration: Within AOTI we are interested for members to be able to apply for and pay for events online to ease the burden of sending in small booking fees on members, and the extra workload of refunding payments if required. We have trialled online registration for two events in 2014 and encountered challenges. We are currently resolving these issues and plan that online registration will be working smoothly for members throughout 2015.
7) AOTI CPD Points system

In 2014 AOTI members were required to use a points system to plan and record their CPD. Members were required to accrue 30 points of CPD each year from across at least three categories. This was a new system for members to adjust to. Education sessions on this system were provided to support
AOTI members to adjust to the new requirements. These were prepared and delivered by CPD team including Ciara Coffey and Sarah Lee. These were held in;

Galway, April 9 th , 2014

Dublin, April 16 th , 2014

Wexford. AOTI conference. May 9 th and 10 th , 2014

Tullamore, June 4 th , 2014

Cork, July 15 th , 2014

Limerick, September 16 th , 2014.
8) Student to Practitioner Programme
AOTI were again actively involved with the roll out of the Student to Practitioner programme run by the HSE. Two workshops were held for recent HSCP graduates. One in Galway on 27 th May, 2014 and one in Dublin on 5 th June, 2014. The CPD officers network prepared a presentation on CPD and this was included in the day programme. Sarah Lee co facilitated one session at the Galway workshop.
This was delivered morning and afternoon. AOTI set up and staffed a stall at both events.
9) CPD Officers Network
Regular meetings are held with CPD staff from the other HSCPs. In 2014 the focus of these meetings was to plan and roll out the national CPD conference and the Student to Practitioner workshops, and to plan CPD proposals for HSE submission. Sarah Lee is the current Chair of this group.
10) CPD Committee
Sarah Lee participates in conference call meetings with the AOTI CPD committee and currently acts as committee chair. This year the Audit Committee was established in AOTI. Sarah Lee has attended three meetings of this committee in a supportive role, to assist them to establish the audit process.
Prepared by Sarah Lee and Ciara Coffey
February, 2015.